AFTER WE GO
If you ever want to know how serious the major record labels are about piracy, all you have to do is convince them to send you a promo/preview copy of an upcoming CD. If you actually GET one, it'll be an F-ing miracle, because most of the major labels don't send out advance copies because they're petrified that the people they send them to are going to share the music online. When Maverick Records actually coughed up an advance copy of TANTRIC's new disc,
After We Go, I was thrilled, because I've been dying to check this out.
The fist thing I noticed about the actual disc (which is a glorified CD-R) is that it's BARCODED, and it has MY NAME on it. They want it made perfectly clear that the disc I have (or anyone else who gets one of these) is linked directly to one person.
Second, you should see the letter that Maverick sends along with the disc. It's a page long letter from the management, addressed to me, explaining that the disc has been digitally watermarked, and that watermark can not be destroyed by extracting the tracks from the disc... basically DARING me to pirate the sucker. By accepting this disc, I have agreed to the following (and I'm not even REMOTELY making this up):
To not play the CD in a computer (Just for shits and giggles, I'm listening to the disc in a discman...at my desk...in front of my PC)
To not upload it to the internet (Well, duh)
To not lend this CD to anyone
To not let anyone but myself listen to it (Good thing for my headphones. God forbid the neighbors hear anything)
To not play this CD for anyone (oh well, this is going to screw up that barbecue I had planned)
I'm shocked they're not looking for stool/sperm/blood/saliva samples.
They must really think the disc is exceptional if they're willing to put that much effort into warning people not to pirate it...
You know,
it IS that good.
I loved Tantric's near-platinum selling
first disc, so I was really hoping that they wouldn't hit the dreaded 'Sophomore slump' with their follow-up. If you dug the first batch of songs these guys released, you'll be happy with
After We Go. My favorite tracks are "Hey Now" (the first single), "Hero", and their cover of FLEETWOOD MAC's "The Chain". I was really skeptical when I heard they did the Fleetwood Mac tune, but when I heard the story of how they chose it (the label told them to go do a cover because that's the cool thing to do now), so they went back to where they were staying, turned on the radio, and agreed to cover the first song they heard. The first song was "The Chain")...but the end result is a chunky, superbly harmonized, beefed up version of the song. "Hero" has single written all over it, and is filled with ALICE IN CHAINS-esque vocal harmonies (which is no big surprise, considering AIC producer Toby Wright handled production duties).
Tantric's strength lies in writing songs are the ones that work well in their most stripped-down, acoustic guitar-and-vocals form. The songs that sound great when frontman Hugo Ferreira and guitarist Todd Whitener are doing in-studio versions at radio stations are the strongest.
Overall,
After We Go is much heavier and angrier. There is some serious tension behind these songs; like they KNEW they had to kick ass with their next disc or they were going to get dropped. "Chasing After" and title track "After We Go" are crunchier than anything I've heard them do, and the songs are great. I'm just personally more of a fan of their more melodic stuff.
After We Go is slated for release on February 10th, so you won't have to wait that long to get your mitts on what I think are some of the best songs I've heard in a very long time.
